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  • Have His Carcase

  • Lord Peter Wimsey, Book 8
  • By: Dorothy L. Sayers
  • Narrated by: Jane McDowell
  • Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (107 ratings)
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Have His Carcase cover art

Have His Carcase

By: Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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Summary

The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey.

In his eighth appearance (and the second book featuring Harriet Vane), he solves a murder on a deserted English beach. With an introduction by Elizabeth George.

A young woman falls asleep on a deserted beach and wakes to discover the body of a man whose throat has been slashed from ear to ear...

The young woman is the celebrated detective novelist Harriet Vane, once again drawn against her will into a murder investigation in which she herself could be a suspect. Lord Peter Wimsey is only too eager to help her clear her name.

©1932 The Trustees of Anthony Fleming (deceased) (P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton

Critic reviews

"She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller." (Minette Walters)

What listeners say about Have His Carcase

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Story fab, reader must be replaced

I love the Lord Peter Wimsey books and listening to them could be a real treat if it wasn't for the awful reader. She misses commas, mispronounces words and overall sometimes makes it hard to understand what she is reading. Her French accent has been learned from a computer and she doesn't know what she is saying! Please, please have someone else read these gorgeous books, someone with a more pleasant voice who can actually read? I've got three books read by her and I'm not getting more, not because of the stories - they are fab, that goes without saying - but because of that unpleasant, sharp voice and the total lack of understanding what she's reading.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, shocking narration

What did you like best about Have His Carcase? What did you like least?

The narrator. Why would you have a female narrator for a male lead? Her accent is forced and annoying. A lot of the nuances of the story are lost because of the narration.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Wimsey but not the way it's read.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jane McDowell’s performances?

No

Was Have His Carcase worth the listening time?

The story but not the voice

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful story and I would buy it again with someone else reading it

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible narration

The book is narrated in a lifeless monotone. Characterisation is particularly poor and and conversational passages are utterly dreadful.

Wimsey is not well served by this joyless rendition.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A bit of editorial control needed

Not my favourite of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, but a good tale and an important point in the Peter/Harriet story. It is generally well read and Jane McDowell has a good voice for the story. I question the wisdom of reading out every letter in the ciphered document, which gets very tedious to listen to. Also, there are a few excruciating mispronunciations, not just of names (e.g. Bredon) but ordinary words like "mischievous". I'm not sure I will listen to it more than once.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Just as Advertised

I've always liked the Peter Wimsey series and never liked Ian Carmichael's reading (he mumbles too much). So this new set of recordings delights me. The narrator has a pleasant clear deep voice and manages all the voices and accents well. She is a pleasure to listen to.

I remember reading this story many, many years ago and not liking it much but as an audiobook it is probably one of my favourites so far. I did remember the solution (well, the trick of the solution) but nothing else about it.

I enjoyed the interplay between Harrriet and Peter and I know there is more in Gaudy Night.

Just for the record, I fail to find fault with a woman reading a book with a male protagonist if it is done well and in this series it is done very well.

Full marks, Audible, and keep them coming.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Let down by terrible reading

This is one of my favourite DLS books, but this reader is so irritating, it interferes with my enjoyment of the story. She is perpetually putting the stress on the wrong words, so that the sentences sound odd or make little sense. It's almost like listening to a robot, which hasn't been programmed to appreciate the subtleties of language. Does no-one check these readings?

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wrong narrator!

This narrator simply doesn't work. Detracts from a superb story. What happened to the Carmichael recording?

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better read than other books in series

Need to say that this reading is better than some of earlier ones in series...thank goodness! Less "affected" and hence more convincing!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A complex story

I enjoyed this story inspite of the unfortunately "wooden" reader.
Code sections need to be written down to be understood.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

One of my favourite authors

Enjoyable , but a bit long winded I prefer her other Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane books .

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1 person found this helpful